Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is a genetic eye disorder affecting around one in 5,000 people worldwide. It typically begins with ...

Researchers are investigating the role of non-coding DNA, or junk DNA, in regulating astrocytes, brain cells involved in ...

DNA doesn’t just sit still inside our cells — it folds, loops, and rearranges in ways that shape how genes behave.

This Collection supports and amplifies research related to SDG 3: Good Health & Wellbeing. The human genome is a vast landscape, with less than 2% of its sequence encoding proteins. For many years, ...

Researchers have successfully employed an algorithm to identify potential mutations which increase disease risk in the noncoding regions our DNA, which make up the vast majority of the human genome.

The expression of genes has to be very carefully controlled by cells; serious problems can arise when genes are expressed in the wrong places, at the wrong times, or at the wrong levels, for some ...

Only around two percent of the human genome codes for proteins, and while those proteins carry out many important functions of the cell, the rest of the genome cannot be ignored. However, for decades ...

A tiny percentage of our DNA—around 2%—contains 20,000-odd genes. The remaining 98%—long known as the non-coding genome, or so-called 'junk' DNA—includes many of the "switches" that control when and ...

Emma Broadbent had just turned one when her parents were told that, despite months of tests, physicians still had no explanation for her condition. Emma’s brain was not developing myelin, the fatty ...

This work not only identified the genetic cause of RP but also further highlights the role that noncoding genes can have in genetic disorders.

The non-coding genome, once referred to as "junk DNA," is now understood to be a fundamental regulator of gene expression and a key factor in understanding complex diseases. Image credit: ...